Fox Theater, Westwood Village

History

Designed by architect Percy Parke Lewis, the Fox was originally built in 1930 and first opened on August 14, 1931, in a Spanish Mission style. The theatre was part of a widespread cinema construction program undertaken by Fox West Coast Theatres. The theatre is part of the 1929 Westwood Village, a Mediterranean-style village development adjoining the University of California Los Angeles planned by Harold and Edwin Janss of the Janss Investment Company.

In the 1940s, the backstage areas were bricked off.

On October 18, 1951, the Village Theatre was given a Skouras era remodel and reopened, increasing the seating capacity to 1,535, with plaster gold swirls on the stage area side-walls, exit upgrades, new seats, new carpet, and lobby upgrades, including California Gold Rush artwork.

In 1973, National General Theatres, the former Fox Theatres-West Coast, sold this theater to Ted Mann, then owner of the Chinese Theatre, becoming part of the Mann Theatres chain.

In the late 1970s, new 70mm projection equipment was installed and a larger screen was added.

In 1988, the Fox Theatre was designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission as an Historic Cultural Monument (HCM #362).

Circa 1998-1999, the theater had a remodeling, getting new seating and carpet.

In 2010, Mann Theatres went out of business. Regency Theatres became the operator of both the Village Theatre and a multiplex cinema at "The Plant" in Van Nuys.

In 2014, Regency added the immersive Dolby Atmos sound system to the theater in time for the movie Transcendence.

In 2019, it became the first THX Ultimate Cinema™ theatre. An investor group led by Jason Reitman agreed to buy the theater in February 2024. The group consisted of more than two dozen filmmakers; besides Reitman, the group also includes J. J. Abrams, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Chris Columbus, Ryan Coogler, Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Hannah Fidell, James Gunn, Sian Heder, Rian Johnson, Gil Kenan, Karyn Kusama, Justin Lin, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, David Lowery, Christopher McQuarrie, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Alexander Payne, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jay Roach, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman, Brad Silberling, Steven Spielberg, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang and Chloé Zhao. The group said it planned to showcase props, wardrobe and film collections, notably Columbus' collection of 16mm film prints, from their personal collections. There were also plans to add a restaurant, bar and gallery to it.

On July 25, 2024, the Regency Village Theater and the Bruin Theater closed their doors when their leases expired. The theater is set to reopen in 2027 and will be programmed by American Cinematheque.

Architectural features

A feature of the theater is the 170-foot white Spanish Revival/Moderne tower which looms over the Broxton and Weyburn Avenues intersection. Atop the tower is a blue and white metal Art Deco “Fox” sign, which was renovated in the late 1980s.

Carved winged lions sit halfway up the tower at the base of projecting columns. A blue and white sign with the legend "Fox Westwood Village" is positioned at the bottom of the tower just above the entrance. By night, the elegant white tower literally becomes a beacon with its signs and the shaft of the tower illuminated.

The rectangular cinema building immediately behind the tower features long rows of Churrigueresque stucco decorations. Perched atop the corners of the building stand carved griffins.

Movie premieres

Westwood Village hosts around 24 movie premieres per year. The list of features which have debuted at the theater includes: Robots, The Fast and the Furious, A Star Is Born, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, James Bond films, JFK, Mission: Impossible, Batman, every Harry Potter film, Independence Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Emoji Movie, The Lego Movie, Shrek, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs franchise, Overlord, Venom, Murder Mystery, Hairspray, Bullet Train, and hundreds of others.

References

References

1. Department of City Planning. "Designated Historic-Cultural Monuments". City of Los Angeles.
2. (October 1, 2015). "Westwood home to long history of Hollywood film debuts since 1931". [[Daily Bruin]].
3. "Movie Premiere Westwood Village".
4. "Fox Westwood Village Theatre".
5. "Regency Village Theater - Mann Village Theater". [[Cinema Treasures]].
6. "Carl G. Moeller: Theatre Architect".
7. "National General's Chinese".
8. Linthicum, Kate. (April 1, 2010). "2 historic Westwood theaters saved from possible closure". [[Los Angeles Times]].
9. "THX Launches World's First THX Ultimate Cinema™ at Regency Westwood Village Theatre".
10. Saperstein, Pat. (February 21, 2024). "Jason Reitman Acquires Fox Village Westwood Theater With Filmmakers Including Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, JJ Abrams, Chloé Zhao".
11. (July 28, 2024). "Historic Westwood Theaters Close Their Doors". [[Beverly Hills Courier]].
12. James, Meg. (July 21, 2024). "Beloved historic movie theaters Westwood Village and Bruin to close this week". Los Angeles Times.
13. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-11-18/american-cinematheque-to-operate-program-village-theater-2027-reopening
14. (October 18, 1951). "Village Theatre reopens tonight in Westwood". Los Angeles Times.
15. (2003). "An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles". [[Gibbs Smith]].
16. (April 29, 2019). "Committee discusses movie premieres' impact on Westwood Village businesses". [[Daily Bruin]].
17. "Movie premieres in Westwood Village".
18. (August 10, 2018). "Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg Talk Making a "Character-Driven Action Movie" With 'Mile 22'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
19. "'Bullet Train' premiere in Los Angeles". [[New York Daily News]].